You’ve experienced it before: the chill in the air and the distant melting of her.
It started as a whisper when the clock struck 12:00 am on All Hallows’ Eve. Now, it’s stronger than ever before.
The riff starts quietly, unsuspectingly. But with each passing day, her ice is cracking.
Until, finally, she explodes into song! The autumn leaves turn into snowflakes, and the pumpkins transform into tiny elves. Red and green now burn your retinas.
And the pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks? Gone. Replaced.
Peppermint now rules the world.
This isn’t a horror story for autumn lovers, but a yearly ritual of regeneration.
And do I really need to state the cause of this commotion?
The holiday season of mistletoe and frivolous spending seems to start as soon as November begins, and with it comes the iconic defrosting of Mariah Carey’s jingle, “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
Thanksgiving not included.
The question is, how can we survive this infection?
Or have we already agreed to skip the turkey dinner altogether?
The Jingle of success
With over 825 million hits, Carrey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” takes the world by storm every year, giving her the title of “Queen of Christmas” the moment it hits November.
Even though this jingle has always been popular since its release in 1994, “All I Want for Christmas is You” didn’t truly skyrocket until years later, when it soared through generations. Just like all Christmas classics, the nostalgia factor was passed down from millennials to Gen Z, and now, Gen Alpha.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Almost 25 years later, “All I Want for Christmas is You” achieved its first Billboard Hot 100. Of course, this isn’t just a Christmas miracle.
Carey rebranded herself to embrace this new persona, using TikTok and Instagram to achieve this aim. People joked about the phenomenon, calling it The Defrosting.
After some of her first “defrosting” videos of 2020 and 2021, Gen Z quickly re-embraced the song. And, of course, Carey instantly became a yearly meme. From singing her iconic riff in her home to recreating Morticia Adams and completely transforming the world with the power of Christmas, her popularity grew quickly.
Now, almost five years after her major TikTok debut, social media awaits her “defrosting” videos every November. Carey’s jingle is becoming the signal to pull out the decorations and wish lists, and much earlier in the season.
So, why is that?
Why does Christmas seem to be celebrated earlier each year?
Christmas Cult-ure
Sure, it’s a wonderful time of year.
The presents, the food, the blessed time with family.
But why are we so willing to skip past the holiday of thankfulness and immediately jump into buying the next best thing on Black Friday?
It’s not surprising that the answer is money.
Retailers see this time as their “golden quarter” for pushing out products to harness this festive need that is so embedded in Carey’s career. With this constant push, some competitors even jump to selling these items as early as October and September to “maximize profit.”
This early desire for nostalgia and festive cheer has a name for retailers: Christmas Creep.
Yep, that’s right. This thing has a name, and I just Googled it. It’s not surprising, honestly.
As wonderful as it is to celebrate the season of cheer and fill the bellies of corporations, the Christmas Creep is starting to feel like a cultish spend-all-of-your-money mindset instead of a holiday.
In the end, it’s not Carey’s fault that her riff awakens the magic and greed of Christmas every year.
From TikTok Christmas hauls to the perfect family picture, corporate greed and social media work hand in hand to rewind the Christmas Creep clock.
And that is not something to sing about.